


Tea and Feelings

by Shadowblight



Category: Strike Witches
Genre: F/F, Implied Femslash, Unrequited Love, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 18:34:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5466857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowblight/pseuds/Shadowblight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short scene with Minna and Eila, discussing things they can't seem to say, even to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea and Feelings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mendeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mendeia/gifts).



> Designed to take place after the events in the end of Episode 8 and beginning of Episode 9 of Season 1. ***SPOILERS IMPLIED.***
> 
> Hello again, Yuletide. I'm afraid I'm only getting worse and worse at my submissions as the years go by, but I still am always thrilled to write for them, most especially when I'm able to fulfill something that's from a fandom I enjoy so incredibly much. Thank you so very much for the prompt, Mendeia. I'm very honored to be matched to you.
> 
> I am only sorry that the original request implied something funny, and rather unfortunately, I've not been in any position mentally to write that of late. Please see my other SW works after the reveal, most especially my drabble set, if you'd like some more nuggets of humor, and think you can stand to look at them after reading this. Sorry, again~

Minna had never really considered herself not a morning person. It was just that mornings generally took a little warming up to - preferably with a nice drink in hand.

This is what had led her here. She stood, half-wrapped in a fluffy robe, with a well-steeped eastern leaf tea in hand, staring out the window into the courtyard. The dawn had peaked over the horizon not five minutes earlier, and was just now managing to make the corners of the area visible.

But it wasn't the edges Minna was interested in.

Mio's frame moved precisely, as always. Tall and lithe, but not overly muscular, it still allowed for very sturdy and powerful overhead swings and thrusts, moves Minna had seen her use countless times against their enemies, with equally strong results. The swordplay was a real representation of Mio's culture, and Minna would be a liar to say she didn't enjoy watching it. Even so, she gripped the handle of the cup tensely. The style was still incredibly reckless in a battlefield of laser beams and magical shields.

"Commander?"

Minna resisted the urge to jump; the ice creeping up her spine would not take kindly to it. Instead she turned her head sharply. "Yes?"

"Ah..." It was only Eila. "Sorry, you just looked lost in thought. Just wondered why." The blonde walked up to the window, stretching a bit. She'd undoubtedly just come from the room she shared with Sanya.

Minna simply shrugged a bit further into her robe and looked back out the window and a took swig of her drink. It was beginning to cool.

Eila reached the window, arm still awkwardly behind her head. Her eyes flicked across the courtyard briefly, but quickly realized what Minna was fixated on with a strange pang. "Oh," she stated softly. She then felt the urge to look somewhere, anywhere besides the courtyard, or directly at her superior. She wasn't blind, and wanted to be supportive, but it was far too difficult to say anything comforting to a person about something you saw as your own shortcoming as well. It ended up on the cup Minna held instead.

For her part, Minna just took another sip, then frowned at just how rapidly it was getting cold. Eventually she turned to Eila, knowing she should at least pretend. Catching her gaze after a moment, she asked, "Would you like some?"

Eila let out a short bark of a laugh, nervous as it was. "Sure."

Inexplicably relieved, Minna nodded and turned to go into the mess hall behind them. She turned on the stove and grabbed the kettle as Eila sat at the table, putting her face in cupped hands propped on the table as she watched Minna go about the process. The hall was otherwise quiet, and would likely remain that way for at least another 20 minutes, until Yoshika showed up to prepare breakfast for everyone.

As she reached for the tin with the eastern leaves, Minna shook her head. It was mostly full. She, like most of the squad, normally preferred the Britannian types like Earl Grey, but after last night's interactions, she felt torn between wanting to be closer and yet wanting to feel so much further away to Fuso, to Mio. It was grating on her nerves just how much it pervaded her thoughts, and she was doing her best to reconcile it before it affected her decision-making processes. Before it affected her resolve.

It wasn't working well. In fact, her hestation last night was the clearest evidence of all.

"I know I was harping on Yoshika-chan, but I did enjoy your singing last night too," Eila said after a minute of waiting around.

Minna smiled, and realized it was probably the first time she'd smiled at all since last night at the event. "Thank you. Sanya's piano-playing was on point as usual. I didn't hear a single key off-tune."

Eila flushed, and Minna swore that if Eila's familiar had been focused, she'd have heard the other girl's black tail swish against the seat. "Yeah," Eila's voice did little to hide her wisfulness, "she's really good."

The red-head pulled the boiling water from the pot, and poured some to her own cup to refresh it, then poured a fresh one with leaves waiting for Eila. As she put the pot down, her hand lingered on the handle and she felt her smile slip a bit. She chose her next words slowly, carefully. "Do you think it's really wise to be so close to others in a unit like this?"

Eila's look suddenly turned to a panic, and it made Minna immediately jump to clarify.

"I mean, to be so connected like we are, like the family feeling I've promoted." It pained Minna to admit, but all her interactions of late were forcing her to doubt her own leadership, too. "We've all come to really care for each other here. I know that's not bad objectively, but..." Minna trailed off.

The blonde realized what Minna was getting at, and she shook her head, sitting up straight. "It's how we deal with life, though. If we don't have things..." she thought back to Sanya, who had merely wandered in, flopping onto her own bed just a short while ago, and blushed, "people we consider important to us, to confide in, how can we expect to remember what's good in life to fight for?"

Minna looked to the counter.

"Not all of us can be Barkhorn," Eila's sarcastic tone was nearly deadpan.

For whatever reason, this caused Minna to snap out of her daze and just laugh. "Trude's much more personable than she let's on."

By this point, Eila's arms were crossed. "If you say so!"

Minna laughed again, this time a little quieter, but with no less mirth. She turned her attention back to the tea, finished preparing it, and sat down at the table, placing Eila's cup before her. After a few drinks, she finally spoke again. "I guess that's the best we can do then. To show each other we care, and hope for the best."

Eila shifted in her seat and stared into her mug. "Yeah," she agreed, but her voice was distant and full of thought.

Minna focused on her own drink then, draining almost all of it in a single go, before it got cold again. But just how much should you show before it becomes too painful for you or the other person? The thought haunted her still, and her conversation with Eila hadn't helped nearly as much as she hoped it might.

The two of them remained together in amiable silence, until the rest of the squad began bustling in for breakfast. A breakfast that would not involve either Sanya, nor Mio.

Perhaps neither of them were morning people, after all.


End file.
